Customer Reviews

Strength Building Yoga

5 star:		(12)
4 star:		(2)
3 star:		(5)
2 star:		(2)
1 star:		(2)

 

 

I have been practicing yoga for several years now and consider myself to be at an approximately intermediate level, but I've been wanting to incorporate challenging postures such as inversions and arm balances into my home practice. I found Yoga Practice for Strength to be a perfect video for meeting this goal. Rodney Yee has created two practices of less than 30 minutes each; the first is designed to prepare for inversions, particularly headstand, whereas the second consists of balance work, including arm balances.

The first practice begins with several vinyasa sequences. Rodney slowly builds up to a full sun salutation and then adds additional poses such as triangle and side angle; I loved that he moved slowly and held each pose for a long period. After the 16-minute vinyasa segment, Rodney goes through 20-minutes of inversion work. He starts by working in down dog, first doing a bent arm down dog (tough!) and then holding down dog for two minutes; both of these moves are designed to build strength. Next, he practices bridge pose and then moves into a shoulderstand and plow sequence using a chair and a strap. He finishes with a reclined leg stretch and a very short savasana.

Rodney begins the second practice with a vinyasa warm-up, moving through the vinyasa twice and including a beginning balance posture, side plank. He then works on standing poses for balance: triangle, side angle, half moon, forward bend, tree, warrior 1, forward bend with feet apart, warrior 3. He did not hold the poses as long as in the first program, but he still moves slowly and precisely. Rodney then moves to the floor for more challenge postures, including boat, pendulum, and crane pose. Although I couldn't do pendulum, Rodney showed how to modify with blocks, and he made me feel that I could get there eventually. Rodney ends with a reclined twist and savasana, bringing the total practice time for this session in at about 23 minutes (Rodney spends additional time talking between sections).

This is definitely one of my favorite Rodney Yee practices, and I highly recommend it for intermediate yogis wanting to build strength. However, if you are used to a faster-moving, power yoga style, this video is not for you.

Though this is definitely not for beginners or people still feeling intimidated by yoga, it's a tape with 2 really great sessions with different focuses. I find the second session to be more difficult because of the super challenging arm-balances, which you may need an instructor to help you with if you've never done them. But as usual Rodney is clear in his instructions and you get a well rounded "workout" no matter which one you choose to do. I even use the vinyasa at the beginning of the tape to warm up for other yoga tapes or other workouts sometimes.

This tape is quite amazing! Paced perfectly, and quite challenging. I practiced yoga at a studio until my schedlue prevented me from attending classes. I bought this tape so I could continue at home. My hunch was that no tape could take the place of my class. I was pleasantly surprised! This tape is not as good as class, but it surely comes in a close second! Highly recommended!

This has a lot of challenging asanas as well as some gentle ones for beginners. It is a tape that you can grow into as you improve your yoga skills. The main reason why I'm using this DVD is to properly strengthen some of my poses that I'm still a bit shaky on.

Although I have to agree with the reviewer who noted that the final segment of the tape contains two impossible poses such as the super challenging arm-balances, which you may need an instructor to help you with if you've never done them. This segment literally comprises no more than a minute or two of the otherwise wonderful 75 minutes of the entire tape. I usually make up my own modifications for these two poses and just go along with it -- it's a very insignificant portion.

I like how this DVD moves slowly enough so that I can really get into the poses, feeling each one, and practicing them. Then, when I go back to other DVD's, I notice an amazing difference in strength, balance, and flexibility. I also appreciate that he merely names the next pose without unnecessary cheerleading a explanation -- if you've learned the beginning poses elsewhere, it makes it very soothing and allows you to concentrate fully on the poses without undue distraction. This DVD also provides options for more advanced work, either repeating vinyasa or holding certain poses for longer amounts of time.

Overall, this DVD is very calming and resourceful. I look forward to each workout with this tape and will purchase others similar as this, probably the Flexibility because I have my eye's set on that one......... Namasta.

Not a bad video, by any means. The first half, actually, is pretty good. You do basic poses & hold them for longer periods and that feels great. The second half, though.... I dunno...

You do some more basic moves and then all the sudden, Rodney is holding his crosslegged body off the floor, balancing on his two hands, hoisting his torso into midair.

Now, I'm a healthy female in my 30's. I've been doing yoga daily for about two years now. And I've been lifting weights daily for one year. I can do 15 lb curls, no problem, can do more tricep dips than you can shake a stick at and still -- there was NO WAY I could do what Rodney Yee was doing. I could barely get my torso off the ground.

With other yoga tapes, when you get to the challenging poses you're often shown how to use props or modify things so you can work up to this. Well, Yoga for Strength doesn't. So I just shut the VCR off when this part of the tape comes up, cause struggling to support myself as my wrists wiggle and my arms bow just isn't "yoga" to me.

If you're thinking of getting this tape, get on the floor right now. Cross your legs over your thighs, like a full or half lotus, I guess. Put your arms down by your sides, hands on the floor. Now lift yourself off the floor. Higher. Higher. Is your body parallel to the floor? If so, this tape'll work fine for you. If not, you may wanna consider another, or at least be mindful that you probably won't get all that much outta the final segment Rodney Yee teaches.

But then, even with that considered, it's not a bad tape. I don't like it to do it every day, but it's nice on the weekends, sometimes, or for a change. But definitely NOT one of my favorites.

I like Patricia Walden's Yoga For Flexibility, and for building strength really think Kathy Smith's New Yoga Challenge has some good stuff in there, too.

WOW. A great yoga tape. This tape is advanced and it's content and difficulty are clearly stated and accurately explained in the editorial review. If you're looking for a fitness video, this may not be for you...it really is about the yoga (which I prefer) vs. the "yoga aerobics" style tapes.

Yoga is it's its own deal - like all endeavors; being able to do a pull up doesn't make one a climber...being fit & flexible does not guarentee one a proficiency at yoga. So you can't expect to hit the ground running on this tape even if you are both.

As an intermediate at best in Yoga (but an athlete who can do splits in 3 directions, back bends and hand stands) I find the tape super challenging and I can not do all the poses but it gives me something to aspire to, especially the end where the difficult arm balances happen-the most challenging part for me (and for a lot of women). It may be usefull to note that for some beginners-intermediates arm balances are easier than the leg balances and vice versa. This tape packs a challenging combo of both. I also find it nice to use an aid if I can't properly hit a pose - like a chair or strap. Don't skip the hard bits - modify the pose! (A "spotter" can help with this too!)

Remember....there is more to Yoga than being successfully bendy..........

In addition: Rodney Yee's "Yoga Conditioning for Athletes" is in my opinion a great intro to Yoga for the already athletic person. It's a great warm up for any sport and on its own a nice work out. Should be on Amazon if it's not ( i didn't find it listed)

Many have found this video to be a fairly advanced yoga workout, but for those who are familiar with a Vinyasa Flow or Ashtanga practice which generally last for 100+ intense minutes a session, you may find this to be of only moderate difficulty.

The video contains 2 "discreet" sessions with variations in vinyasa sun salutations that build up gradually in intensity. The sessions are short at 16 minutes for the first vinayasa series and about 20 minutes for the second, but Rodney is quick to point out that for a more vigorous practice, one should repeat the various sequences as desired or throw in additional postures as you see fit.

This personal modification would be necessary for those familiar with doing the full 10 Surya Namaskara A and B sun salutations, and means using the video as a fluid complete session is not really intended or possible as you would have to pause the video while the repeats are performed.

A couple postures from the Standing Fundamental Asanas are thrown in namely the Triangle pose and Utthita Parsvakonasana...but no real direction on how to do the postures properly is given. This means that some familiarity or formal instruction is beneficial so the postures are done correctly with proper alignment.

The end of the first session concludes with some relaxation poses, but not a complete finishing or Shavasana sequence.

The second session includes additional variants to the sun salutations, and then gets into some balance work with the tree posture, some moderate inversion and arm balance work using the side plank and Warrior 3.

There is a challenging session using a bent arm Downward Dog, and an extended Downward Dog held for 2 minutes. These are good elements to build into a personal practice and Rodney states that with time the postures can be held for 5 minutes and up, indicating again that the video is meant to be used for practice "ideas" rather than as a complete practice itself.

Rodney also includes some shoulder stand work and plow position(Halasana) work modified using a chair and straps. These are some standard postures from the Ashtanga finishing sequence. Rodney states that the shoulder stand postures can be held for up to 10 minutes as desired as strength increases.

He concludes the second session and the video itself with a discussion that the final postures are very challenging and are something to build up to. The crane posture used first is probably the first introduction most students get to arm balances and he guides the student into this posture in a fairly clear manner. The posture is challenging, but is one that is regularly practiced in my studio's Level 1-2 Ashtanga class so not something that is considered overly advanced.

The final posture referred to as the Pendulum posture has been criticized by many reviewers here as being impossible, but again, with yoga, the postures exist to challenge the practitioner. Rodney explains that using blocks will help the user get into this position, and while difficult, to those familiar with an Ashtanga style practice will recognize the Pendulum posture as the fundamental building block to performing the pass through vinyasas from downward dog to sitting...a sequence that is performed numerous times throughout an Ashtanga practice.

I would recommend this video to those who are reasonably familiar with a yoga practice and have some formal instruction so as to be able to get into the postures correctly with proper alignment.

The shortness of the sessions and moderate level of difficulty allow access to beginner practitioners, but the lack of instruction on adjustments and how to do the postures properly means that beginners will likely develop bad habits fast.

The sessions are good to use as building blocks for a personal practice and for variety in mixing-up one's repetition with the traditional Surya Namaskara A and B sequences, but given the shortness of the sessions, they can't really be used as a complete practice.

The practices done in series if you keep doing the practice without stopping at the conclusion of the first session creates a reasonable length session at about an hour...but is a bit clunky as finishing postures are included at what would be the middle mark of the combined session.

Again, a good video to be incorporated into an existing practice while finding less utility as a complete practice itself.

I have taken yoga classes for a couple years, and have the Yoga for Beginners, Ali McGraw's yoga tape, and one with Tracy Rich and Ganga White. Needed something new. This tape is just the ticket. Challenging, nicely filmed, and I love that there is no instruction, just an announcement of each pose. Very calming.I look forward to each workout with this tape and will purchase others of a similar type, probably the Flexibility one. And Rodney is so fit--very inspiring!

I am a big fan of Rodney Yee's and generally buy anything he releases. Over the years his practices have become a central part of my exercise routine. You can always count on impeccable voice instruction, flowing, sometimes challenging routines and great scenery. STRENGTH BUILDING YOGA however is not one of my favourites and I would suggest giving it a miss for one of his others. The biggest problem with this DVD is the menus, they are absolutely impossible to figure out and I find myself stopping, fast forwarding and going back and forth to get a complete workout. It's very frustrating. On the back of the case it states that the menus will go directly to the segment you want but this is not an option, you will only get a choice of interview or workout.

So far without a usable menu I have discovered 3 different sessions; SESSION 1 is approximately 30 minutes long and not bad once you get going. Although Rodney does keep stopping to introduce the poses and subsequently it doesn't flow very well. SESSION 2 is approximately 20 minutes long and contains some balancing poses that beginners may find difficult but again once you get going it`s quite good. What appears to be SESSION 3 contains some very advanced inverted poses (headstand preparation) and a couple of complex arm balancing poses. You will also hold Dog and Bridge pose for 1-2 minutes each. I usually skip this and go back to the end of session 2 for Relaxation pose. Unfortunately I always forget that this is non-existent and just get into Corpse Position when the credits roll. Its 10 seconds Max and I always feel cheated.

My final gripe with this DVD is the misleading cover; it shows Rodney on the beach but this workout has been filmed in a studio and not outdoors in Hawaii as the back of the case tells us, but that's really the least of the problems here.

I would not recommend STRENGTH BUILDING YOGA but Rodney Yee has many other great ones in his collection. A few of my favourites are; YOGA BURN, YOGA CORE CROSS TRAIN, POWER YOGA STRENGTH AND FLEXIBILITY OR ENERGY BALANCE YOGA.

Props needed include a mat, brick, strap, chair and blanket, Namaste.

I have several Rodney Yee videos (6) and I have enjoyed them all from his power yoga for beginners series to to yoga burn. But this one misses the mark. There is not real flow just a set of posture grouped together. Missing is that trademark Rodney Yee dynamic flow. Nothing about this felt helpful. This one won't join my regular rotation of Yee videos in my practice